why do people feel the need to buy expensive cable

jl35, "I think your first point sums it up maple. We each determine what sounds best to us, and then decide what price we are willing to pay. Did a Stradivarius cost more to make? Can we prove it sounds better? Does it sound better? Tangential, I know..."

You sir, are spot on!

maplegrovemusic, this last Saturday there were four of us in the same listening room when we put the quite a bit more expensive HFC cables in replacing the next down cables. One guy is quiet and said nothing, one said something to the effect of why am I sitting here to what I cannot afford, one said "shit" these are amazing, and one talking about how real the female singer sounded and how perfect the piano was. 

I know that I cannot afford them, but I am getting old and think I deserve them as it is now or never.

I really don't understand most threads. Why would I care what someone or even a large number have to say? When I go to shows where "best sound at the show" awards are given, usually these are big and expensive equipment rooms that advertise a lot and rooms that I walked out after a brief listen as they were so terrible sounding.
Now how am I going to buy these cables? Please everybody send me your check for $1000.  Thanks.

r_f_ sayles Where in my post did I present an argument? Did you even read what I wrote? I directed my comments to a poster who tried to use a sports car vs econo car analogy and how it relates to the differences between mogami and siltech.

I was only pointing out that the comparison cannot be made as the differences between the cars can easily be measured from a performance standpoint and therefore a logical conclusion can be drawn as to which one is a better car. That is a fact that cannot be debated. The same cannot be said for cables. One can only express an opinion as to which cable sounds better but again this would only be a matter of opinion. How is that baseless?

I think you said it best in this quote "we have stated our experience and our opinions about that experience".

Making absolute statements that cable a is better than cable b based on an experience or an opinion is completley illogical and I think most people on here would agree.

Also you presume that I have not listened to cables....well sir you would be dead wrong about that. I have have auditioned numerous cables in my system and have settled on what I think sounds good to me. Some may feel I paid too much for them while others may feel like I could have spent more and got better. Either way I would not make a statement that they are better for everybody than anything else below their price point. It is that kind of thinking that confuses people on here who are just getting into audio thinking all they have to do to get better sound is throw more and more money into their system.

I will however take your advice and step away from the computer a bit and leave you gentlemen to your thread. I’m off to go make some cables :)

Sometimes you get what you pay for with regard to quality. Sometimes the dollar cost and spent amount is low and you receive an outstanding product. Other times you can pay extremely high prices and get something that leaves much to be desired with quality. Having watched cables being made by someone that knows what they are doing, using components, materials and a honed set of skills you can achieve an excellent set of interconnects and power cables for a very reasonable sum that is in the realm of the working world.